1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a data processing apparatus which can communicate with various computers and various peripheral devices connected on a predetermined network and to a data processing method and a computer-readable recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, in association with the rapid spread of computers (hereinafter, referred to as PCs) such as personal computers, workstations, and the like, various peripheral devices such as printer, scanner (image reading device or the like), digital camera, and the like as peripheral devices have rapidly been spread to individuals, offices, and the like. A network such as LAN or the like for mutually connecting them has also been spread. In association with it, for a long time, there have been many requests for a construction such that the printer, modem, scanner, and the like connected to the network are shared and used by a plurality of users on the networks.
For this purpose, in recent years, an environment which enables various apparatuses on the network as well as the peripheral devices such as printer, scanner, and the like to be shared and used by a plurality of users has widely been constructed in an office or the like.
Hitherto, the network environment as mentioned above has been expressed (virtual network display) on a screen of a PC (data processing apparatus) or the like. Various PCs and various peripheral devices (including peripheral devices locally connected to the PCs) are displayed as icons onto a line expressing the network, thereby realizing such a network environment. A display expressed (virtual network display) on the screen of the PC or the like as mentioned above is hereinbelow referred to as a virtual system construction display (screen). Various methods of forming the virtual system construction display (screen) were proposed in the past and their descriptions are omitted in the present specification.
In the conventional virtual system construction display screen such that the network environment has been expressed on the screen of the PC or the like, by referring to the displays (icons) of the various PCs and various peripheral devices connected to the network, identification of the device expressed by each icon (identification showing whether the device is a printer, a scanner, a PC, or the like), a function such as data input, output, or the like of each icon (device), and its status information can be obtained from a shape or the like of the icon.
In the conventional virtual system construction display screen, however, for example, although functions of the PC of the user himself are displayed with respect to the display regarding the PC, as for the other PCs, functions of any of the PCs are not displayed. When the PC having the function which is desired by the user is searched on the network, such a PC cannot be visually identified and the target PC cannot be easily discriminated. Also in case of distributing data to a predetermined group in the PCs, since the PCs belonging to the same group cannot be easily visually identified, the user needs to confirm a distribution destination by another method. Such an operation becomes a load (burden) when the user uses a data distributing function.
As mentioned above, in the conventional data processing apparatus, there is a problem such that when the user searches a PC having a desired function on the virtual system construction display screen, such a PC cannot be visually identified and the target PC cannot be easily discriminated.
Since the PCs belonging to the same group cannot be easily visually identified on the virtual system construction display screen, the user needs to confirm the distribution destination by another method. There is a problem such that such an operation becomes a burden when the user uses the data distributing function.